Oscar-winner Dame Judi Dench starred alongside Geoffrey Palmer in this intelligent and charming 1990s hour-long British dramedy. But don’t be fooled by its slightly older character focus–the show was consistently smart, subtle, and genuinely funny for the entirety of its run. The show began in 1992 and last appeared as a reunion special in 2005, landing itself at 29th on the BBC’s 2004 Britain’s Best Sitcom poll. Dench and Palmer portray Jean Pargetter and Lionel Hardcastle, two 60-somethings who have been reunited forty years after their brief but passionate affair during the Korean War. After an awkward rekindling of romance, widowed Jean and divorced Lionel re-coupled, eventually moving in together and marrying. Jean was a modern and usually level-headed woman who ran her own business and often fell victim to her own empathy and maternal nosiness. When she got flustered, Lionel was the perfect antidote. Lionel maintained a stern and unfriendly exterior but was ultimately a caring and humorous, albeit serious, man. The ensemble cast included Jean’s live-in daughter, Judith (Moira Brooker), who works at Jean’s company, and her best friend and Jean’s secretary, Sandy (Jenny Funnell), who has become somewhat of an adoptive daughter to Jean and Lionel. Sandy would eventually move into the Hardcastle home after breaking up with a boyfriend, and go on to date and finally marry her rugby-obsessed policeman boyfriend, Harry (David Michaels). It also included Lionel’s well-connected, wealthy, vain, and loveably overzealous publisher, Alistair Deacon, who liked to flash his cash and always entered a room with a nonchalant greeting of “Hey-hey.” He had published Lionel’s dull non-fiction account of his life in Kenya, titled (in no-nonsense Lionel style) My Life In Kenya. Alistair and Judith had an on- off relationship during the show’s run, which included Alistair losing, then regaining his millions (and Judith) and marrying Judith toward the end of the series. Lionel’s parents added even more color to the cast, with his father, Rocky (Frank Middlemass) owning the family’s country estate and acting like a teenager. Rocky’s new wife, Madge (Joan Sims), was 78 when they married. Rocky had been 85. The two spent their time living it up while traveling the world. Sims died between the filming of season eight and nine and was written as being on an archeological dig in Egypt during the ninth season. A staff member at the Hardcastle country home, Mrs. Bale was played by Janet Henfrey. The show also featured Paul Chapman as dull dentist Stephen and Moyra Fraser as his nitpicking wife, Penny. The show airs regularly on PBS.
